The number of staff serving Morgan Stanleyâs wealth management arm fell from 10,470 to 9,000 in the year to February, according to the bankâs first-quarter statement.

The 14% drop results from 1,000 redundancies in the division’s US broking arm and a cut in the number of trainees. But there have been several departures and hires. “Morgan has been suffering from a revolving-door syndrome for months,” said a rival.

To rebuild the division, John Mack, chief executive of Morgan Stanley, recently seized an opportunity to hire James Gorman, Merrill Lynch’s well-respected private client chief. Last quarter’s one-off equity remuneration cost of $80m relating to the wealth division relates partly to Gorman’s package. The remuneration cost pushed the division’s quarterly pre-tax profits down to $23m against $353m, including exceptional profits of $220m, last time.